Balloon holder



v April 21, 1959 N. J. sTwERs ApLooN HOLDER Fi led Sept. 9,' 195'? INVENTOJIQ. NORMAN J. STIVERS Attorney United States Patent BALLOON HOLDER Norman J. Stivers, Van Nuys, Calif., assignor to Pioneer Rubber Co. Inc., Willard, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 9, 1957, Serial No. 682,949

7 Claims. (Cl. 46-88) This invention relates to a balloon holder and more particularly to a simple device for holding an inflate balloon body upright on the end of a reed.

-It has been the practice to tie the stem of an inflated balloon to a reed in such a manner that the balloon body projects to the side of the reed. This position of the balloon detracts from the appearance of the balloon assembly and'does not give the effect of a balloon inflated with helium or the like. Also, when advertising is printed on the balloon before it is inflated, the advertising is diflicult to read after the balloon has been inflated and attached to the reed, since the printing is not in the horizontal plane.

The present invention provides a balloon holder which is'slid over the reed, after the balloon has been tied to the reed in the usual manner, and which is positioned to engage the body of the balloon around its point of attachment to the balloon stem. Thus, the holder retains the balloon in upright position to give it an attractive appearance and permit easy reading of any advertising printed on the balloon body. Also, in' assembled position, the holder covers the tied portion of the balloon stem at the end of the reed and eliminates the unsightly appearance of the tied balloon stem. j, The balloon holder comprises a substantially cylindrical body which is flared outwardly at the end which engagesithe balloon body and which is flared inwardly'at the opposite end to snugly engage a tied portion of the balloon stem. The main portion of the body of the balloon holder surrounds the stem attached to the end of the reed and provides a cover therefor.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a balloon holder attachable to a reed after the balloon has been tied thereon and serving to support the body of the balloon in upright position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a balloon holder comprised of a substantially cylindrical member having one end flared outward to engage the inflated balloon body and one end flared inward to engage the stem at a location where it is tied on to the reed.

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forth above will become readily apparent from the accompanying description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the balloon holder of the present invention in position to support a balloon upright on a reed.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section along line 22 of Figure 1 illustrating the manner in which the outwardly flared end of the balloon holder engages the balloon body.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 illustrate progressive steps in tying the balloon stem to the reed in the usual manner.

Figure 6 illustrates the manner in which the balloon holder is moved along the reed to enclose the tied portion of the stem and engage the balloon body.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the balloon holder 7 comprises a substantially cylindrical body section 8 having an outwardly flared end 9 terminating in a rolled 2,882,645 Patented Apr. 21, 1959 edge 10. The other end 11 of the body is flared inwardly and contains an opening 12 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of reed 13. The body section 8 increases slightly in diameter from end 11 to end 9 and is larger in diameter than opening 12.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the usual manner in which a balloon stem 14 is attached to the reed 13. The balloon body 15 is first inflated and the stem 14 is then placed across the reed 13 by the index finger, as illustrated in Figure 3. Thereafter, the balloon body is wrapped once around the reed 13 toward the end of the reed, as illustrated in Figure 4. The end 16 of the stem is then moved upwardly to place bead 17 over the end of the reed, as illustrated in Figure 5, so that the vballoon stem is now secured to the reed. With the balloon tied in this usual manner, the balloon body 15 extends to. one

side of reed 13 and does not provide an attractive assembly.

In order to attach the balloon holder 7 and hold balloon body 15 upright, the reed 13 is moved through form, since the end 16 is on one side of the reed and the end 18 is on the opposite side of the reed and surrounded by the bead 17.

With the stem tied and held in the position of Figure 6, the balloon holder 7 is slid over the stem until edge 10 projects beyond the end of the reed and engages the balloon body 15. A portion 19 of the initial wrapof Figure 4 will be forced through the opening 12 of the balloon holder. and the enlarged remaining portion of the tied stem will be contained in the body section 8 of the, v Because of the manner in which the end 16 folds around the stem end 18 to form a substantially balloon holder.

uniform thickness at the end of the reed, there will be no tendency for the holder to cock at the end of the of the stem.

The circular edge 10 will engage the balloon body 15 adjacent its point of attachment to the stem and will hold the balloon body upright in the manner illustrated in Figure 1. The flared end 9 also serves as a guide for stem end 18 but such guide is not essential. Since the inwardly flared section 11 will engage a portion of the stem, there will be no tendency of the holder to slip downwardly on the stem.

By the present invention, a balloon holder device is provided which is easily attachable after the stem of the balloon has been tied to the reed in the usual manner. The holder supports the balloon body in upright position at the end of the stem to give it the appearance of being inflated with lighter than air substances, such as helium. Because the balloon body is held upright, printed matter on the balloon body can be easily read and observed and if the balloon body takes the shape of a particular object or animal, this shape will be properly displayed. While the balloon holder is shown as having various flared sections, it is understood that a uniform cylindrical body of proper diameter could be used to engage the tied stem of the balloon and to project along the reed to engage the body of the balloon around the stem. As illustrated in Figures 3 through 6, the present invention also provides a method of tying a balloon to a reed by securing the balloon stem to an end of the reed and slipping a holder member over the tied stem and into engagement with the body of the balloon to hold the balloon upright. The balloon stem can be tied to the reed in ar us ys w hout d partin rom. the basic meth d. disclosed herein. Various other modifications are contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope-of the invention as hereinafter.

defined by the appended-claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A balloon holder adapted for mounting on a reed to which a balloon stem is tied, comprising a cylindrical member having a central opening which receives the tied stem, said cylindrical member having an outwardly flared end positioned beyond the end of the reed to engage the body of the balloon beyond its point of attachment to 'the stern, said opening at the other end of said cylindrical member being of such size as to slide over and grip a portion of the balloon stem tied to the reed, said flared end serving to retain said balloon body in upright position on the end of said reed.

2. In a device as defined in claim 1 wherein said opening at said flared end loosely receives said tied ste n, said flared portion serving as a guide for the portion of the stem adjacent the balloon body.

3. A method of securing a balloon to a reed comprising the steps of wrapping the balloon stem around the reed, placing the bead of the stem over the end of the reed, moving the balloon body into position over the end of the reed, and sliding a hollow holder over the balloon stem on the reed into end engagement with the balloon body to hold the balloon body upright on the end of the reed and into gripping engagement with at least a portion of the stem on the reed to maintain the holder in said end engagement.

4. A method of securing a balloon to a reed comprising the steps of tying the balloon stem on one end of; the reed so that the balloon extends to one side of the reed, moving the body of the balloon into position over the'one end of the reed, and sliding a hollow bolder member over the stem from the other end of the reed and into snug engagement with the tied stem and into end abutment with the balloon body.

5. A balloon holder for a balloon having a balloon body and a stem tied to a support over a portion of one end of the support, comprising a body member, an opening extending through the interior of said body member, said one end of said support being positioned within said opening and said tied stem extending from the body of said balloon completely through said opening, one end of said body member being located in engagement with the balloon body at a location adjacent its connection with said stem to hold the balloon body upright and the opposite end of said body member being positioned around said tied stem in snug engagement therewith.

6. A balloon holder for a balloon having a balloon body and a stem tied to a support over a portion of one end of the support by wrapping the stem around said support and placing the end of the stern over said one end of the support, comprising a body member having two end portions, an internal opening in said body member terminating in an end opening in each of said end portions, the other end of said support being inserted through one of said end openings to position said body member on said support so that one end portion of said body member extends beyond said one end of said support to engage the balloon body adjacent said stern and hold the balloon body upright, said other end opening being in snug engagement with said tied ballloon stern in order to retain said body member in position.

7. In combination, a balloon having a balloon body and a stem, a reed for supporting the balloon, said stem i balloon, stem, said second end opening being of such size and being positioned to snugly receive the end of the tied stern farthest from said one end of said reed, the portion of said body member surrounding said first end opening being located to engage the balloon body around a closed path adjacent the stern in order to hold said balloon body upright.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pemberton Mar. 8, 1927 Burroughs Jan. 5, 1954 

